Raising the bar

Ladies and gentlemen, we now have a legit bar in our house. And I have a new favorite spot. It might not be the most productive place to want to spend all my time, but it sure is pretty.

I knew I wanted to use this section of our dining room to create a bar area, but I wasn’t sure how we’d pull it off. After moving our turquoise dresser into the dining room for our holiday party, we were halfway there. (We actually moved it back into the bedroom when we took Christmas decorations down, but after a fruitless search for affordable/attractive credenzas, we determined that our dresser was the winner all along.)

CB2’s alcove wall shelf was the game-changer, though. At $159, it was worth the splurge, especially considering we already owned the dresser and everything on the shelves. It’s sturdy, handsome, functional and, most importantly, not wood. I’m pretty smitten.

I’m really pleased with how our dining room is coming along — we’ve made far more progress here than anywhere else in the house. It’s a completely different look from our dining room/kitchen in our old house, and it’s fun to figure out a completely different style. I’ve made a few tweaks over the past week or so, like moving chairs so that there are only four around the table (there’s still plenty of room for six, but it looks less crowded now). There are a few more changes I’d like to make, including a new overhead light fixture and slightly lowering the mirror that’s hanging on the brick.

We need to take care of that pesky unpainted trim on the French doors, too. But, still. Progress! The room looks so drastically different from when we moved in.

Adding the dresser and shelving unit freed up lots of storage space, giving our built-in bookshelves some room to breathe. We finally own a wine rack (also from CB2) — like real grown ups! — and our colorful cookbooks and home decor books are now the stars of the show.

So, who wants to come over for a cocktail? If you don’t mind me gushing a little about how much I love our new bar setup, you’re more than welcome.

p.s. The countdown is on! We’re still working diligently on the guest bedroom, hoping to make some serious progress before our self-imposed deadline of Thursday. Full details to come!